Lafayette, Ringgold battle tough field in Carrollton
Catoosa and Walker Counties were well-represented at the Class AAA state cross country meet, which took place early Friday morning at Carrollton High School.
On the girls’ side, Lafayette placed 16th in the team standings behind a 24:25 from Madison Todd and a 24:40 from Haynie Gilstrap. Also racing for the Lady Ramblers was Dakota Tabor (26:08), Natalie Ball (27:35), Brittany Aguero (27:36), Alethea Hendrix (28:03) and Bianca Rogers (29:46).
Riley Poe finished in a time of 25:39 for Ringgold, while Reagan Pitts clocked her second-fastest time of the season with a 25:42 as the Lady Tigers finished in 20th place. Elli Grace Roy (26:48), Ava Keener (27:06), Anna Roy (29:47) and Baylee Robenolt (31:20) also raced for Ringgold.
Westminster made it seven straight titles in a row and 33 overall as they scored 50 points to edge past Oconee County (58) for the state title. North Hall (72) was a close third, followed by White County (125) and Cherokee Bluff (136).
Caylee Wagner of North Hall dominated individually with a 19:08 to win the state title by almost a minute-and-a-half. Janie Cooper of Westminster (20:33) was second and Adison Myers of Cherokee Bluff (20:39) finished third.
On the boys’ side, Ringgold also finished 20th in the team standings as Kale Davis ran a 19:24 and Brandon Morris ran a 19:33 for the Tigers. Also running for the Blue-and-white was Ty Williams (20:12), Ayden Rowland (21:42), Hason Velic (21:44), Gavin Simpson-rister (21:48) and Chandler Ridings (23:55). Velic’s time was a new season-best.
Tucker Henderson paced Lafayette with a 19:43 as the Ramblers finished 27th. Josh Perea finished in a time of 20:41, while the rest of the Lafayette roster included Jacob Hamilton (21:52), Steven Sanford (21:53), Crandale Jackson (22:15), Alex Hollaway (22:19) and Dylan Ballew (23:27).
As expected, Westminster made it four state titles in a row and 28 overall as they finished with 54 points. Dawson County (97) was second and Oconee County (124) was third. The top five was rounded out by Cherokee Bluff (146) and Southeast Bulloch (180).
Individually, Mary Persons standout Justin Wachtel sprinted away in the final mile to win in a time of 15:51. Andrew Jones of North Hall (16:11) was the runner-up, while Avery Jones of Southeast Bulloch (16:26) placed third.
Hartman 14th in Class A
Sophomore Haley Hartman carried the banner for
Gordon Lee during the Class A Girls’ Public School State Championships on Saturday afternoon and clocked in with a solid 24:14, good enough for 14th place overall.
The Lady Trojans did not qualify for state as a team due to not having enough
runners, but Hartman was an individual qualifier as she placed in the top six (fourth) individually at the region meet.
Shelby Green of Armuchee ran a 20:01 to win the individual state title and help the Lady Indians win the team title for Region 6.
The Armuchee boys were the state runner-up behind Commerce.
Gordon Lee’s boys, who did qualify for state with a fourth-place team finish at the region meet, were unable to compete in Carrollton.
Other classification state team champions from the weekend included Wesleyan,
who swept both team titles in Class A Private, St. Pius X, who swept both team titles in Class AAAAA and Marietta, who swept both team titles in Class AAAAAAA.
The Pace Academy girls and Lovett boys won in Class AA, while the Pope girls and the Cambridge boys won in Class AAAAAA.